


The Currency of Flight

by BridgetMcKennitt



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Jealousy, M/M, POV Outsider, Revelations, Stalking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 03:11:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6735712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BridgetMcKennitt/pseuds/BridgetMcKennitt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oikawa still couldn't believe what happened. There was no way that Karasuno was going to nationals while he wasn't. He needed answers and the only way he'd get them was through stalking Kageyama. Oikawa just never expected to find out that Kageyama was dating Hinata, gaining another mystery to solve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Currency of Flight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tren/gifts).



> I was already debating whether or not to gift this to you, and then you gifted me fic. So here's fic that we discussed before. :D

Oikawa couldn't stop imagining the last moment of his last Inter High game as he laid in his bed tossing a volleyball in the air over and over. He saw the look in Hinata's eyes in that moment. He saw where that shrimp was going to hit the ball, but he was too late to react to it. Oikawa tried to save the ball, but it went in the wrong direction and there was no one to recover it. Karasuno went onto the finals.

Oikawa scowled. Then Karasuno did what his own school had never done, they defeated Shiratorizawa. His genius setter kouhai did something he never could, and it was because he had Hinata by his side. It infuriated him the more he thought about it, and he'd been thinking about it a lot since Karasuno won. How _dare_ Kageyama go to nationals? Kageyama was only a first year who couldn't bring out the best in everyone on his team. Not that it mattered. Apparently Hinata was enough to bring out the best in Kageyama and that was enough.

Oikawa sat up as he caught the volleyball. He didn't understand Kageyama. His high school volleyball career may be over, but there was still university and beyond. He may not be a genius setter like his kouhai, but he knew how to work harder than anyone else to bring out the best in himself and others. If his university career was going to be better than his high school career, he needed to know how Kageyama defeated Ushijima. Even though he watched all five of their sets, it was still a mystery to him.

He got out of bed and went into the bathroom to take a shower. There was only one way to get his answers. He was going to stalk Kageyama.

Finding Kageyama wasn't hard. If anything, Kageyama was just as obsessed with volleyball as he was, so Kageyama was probably at his school's gym practicing for nationals.

Oikawa clenched his hand into a fist. Karasuno didn't deserve to go to nationals. _Kageyama_ didn't deserve it.

He slipped on his sunglasses as he headed towards Karasuno. His first step in stalking Kageyama was going to be a reconnaissance mission only. If he didn't have to talk to Kageyama, all the better. The way he was feeling right now, he was liable to punch Kageyama in the face than listen to a word he said.

He arrived at Karasuno and quickly found the gym. He was right in that the Karasuno team were practicing. Oikawa slid next to a window to stay hidden and watched from his hiding spot.

The decision he made was definitely the right one because, as he watched Kageyama drink water, he wanted to punch him for all the frustrations bubbling up inside of him. It should have been _him_ going to nationals, not Kageyama! Except how could he when they figured out how to get past Shiratorizawa and he hadn't?

Yes, that was why he was here. Because Ushijima was the same age as him and it wouldn't be long before they faced each other once more on the university level. Oikawa refused to go into that situation without some sort of new knowledge to aid him. He wasn't going to spend his university years losing to Ushijima.

Except this practice wasn't anything special. They practiced their receives, their spikes, everything done normally in any other volleyball practice. There was nothing in their movements that Oikawa saw that was unique or screamed "Winners." As far as he could see, there was no reason that Karasuno should have won against Shiratorizawa.

What was he missing?

The practice finally ended, but Kageyama stayed behind with Hinata to practice together. Yes, this was what he needed. The answers were hidden within these two and Oikawa was going to figure it out.

Except it was just repetition of the same move over and over. Oikawa was impressed by their stamina, but stamina alone wouldn't have surpassed Ushijima. There had to be more to it.

"Oi, let's stop for tonight, Hinata. We promised Yachi we wouldn't stay up too late." Kageyama glanced around. "We still need to clean up the gym before we leave or Daichi will kill us."

Hinata nodded. "Right." Then he ran to pick up volleyballs.

Oikawa frowned. He spent the entire day watching Karasuno practice and it felt like he hadn't learned anything new. What was he missing? When they cleaned up the gym and left the building, Oikawa followed behind them. He made sure he stayed far enough back so neither of them realized he was there. Kageyama was going to lead him to his answers.

Hinata walked his bicycle as he stood shoulder to shoulder with Kageyama. Oikawa bit back a laugh. Well, not quite shoulder to shoulder. Hinata was a shrimp, after all. It was what made his skills on the court that much more impressive. Oikawa longed to see how Hinata would flourish under his influence. It wasn't fair that Kageyama got to hog him all to himself.

Then Oikawa raised his eyebrow. He was far enough away so he couldn't hear their conversation, but whatever Kageyama was saying was causing Hinata to laugh. His kouhai wasn't a funny person. Funny looking, definitely, but not a comedian by any means. Oikawa wondered what Kageyama was saying.

He dug out his phone from his back pocket and quickly texted Iwaizumi. 'Kageyama isn't a funny person.'

The response was immediate. '???'

Right, Iwaizumi didn't know what he planned to do today. Oikawa was about to text him the entire story when he realized he was falling behind the two. No, that was fine. He could continue his stalking tomorrow. Oikawa stopped walking and his fingers flew as he texted Iwaizumi. Perhaps Iwaizumi would even want to join him in his stalking. Two heads were better than one.

Oikawa scoffed when he read Iwaizumi's reply. It _wasn't_ creepy or weird that he was stalking Kageyama. This was very important research. It wasn't a thought that Oikawa wanted to entertain, but what if Karasuno won nationals? What if Kageyama was on that center stage and everyone in Japan considered _him_ the best high school setter? That made Oikawa want to throw something to vent his frustration.

No, he needed to solve the mystery of Kageyama and use that knowledge to his own advantage. That was the reason why he was here and he wasn't going to give up until he got what he wanted.

*

It wasn't hard to call Kageyama's mom and pretend to be someone from Karasuno to get Kageyama's complete schedule from her. If Iwaizumi knew what he did, he'd get shouted at over the phone, but Oikawa was smart. He didn't tell Iwaizumi what he did.

Kageyama wasn't going to be at the gym in the morning, according to his mom. Instead, he was going to go out running with Hinata. Oikawa got into his running clothes and headed out. While he knew the path Kageyama was going to take, he didn't know exactly where Kageyama was going to be and Oikawa really didn't want to the entire path just to find his kouhai.

Fortunately, the spot he chose along the path was exactly where he found Kageyama. There was a small cafe and instead of Kageyama running, he was sitting outside at a table with Hinata. Oikawa hid behind a nearby tree as he crept closer. While they were in their running clothes, it didn't look like they'd been running recently. There were half empty glasses on the table and half eaten food on their plates, suggesting they'd been at the cafe for awhile now.

Oikawa frowned as he processed that information. What did this mean? Was this the key to Karasuno defeating Shiratorizawa? He shook his head, clearing that thought. That made zero sense. Then again, Karasuno winning against both his school and Shiratorizawa made zero sense, so who was he to judge? He crept even closer to listen in on their conversation.

Hinata was nodding his head furiously. "We need to see those tapes. Tapes from nationals is allowed, right?"

"Yes, they're legal. We'll be facing the top two aces above Ushijima at nationals, so we need to be ready." Kageyama reached for his glass and took a sip. "Sensei is acquiring the tapes for us for tomorrow's practice." Hinata began fidgeting and Oikawa saw Kageyama scowl. "What?"

"Well, do you think coach and sensei will be mad at us? For this?" Hinata gestured quickly between the two of them. Oikawa was confused. What was that shrimp talking about? Maybe their coach didn't approve of them relaxing when they should be practicing for nationals. If it'd been Oikawa in their place, he'd been in the gym right now practicing his serves for nationals.

Kageyama scoffed. "Why would they be mad? It's not any of their business."

"But it is! Yachi hates it when we fight. What if we fight and it affects the rest of the team's dynamic?" Oikawa couldn't see Hinata's face, but judging from Kageyama's expression, Kageyama wasn't amused. "Kageyama! I'm serious. Nationals is coming up and we have to defeat everyone."

"We will. We've gotten stronger since we joined Karasuno and we're stronger together now." Oikawa's eyes widened when he saw Kageyama attempt to smile. His kouhai should never smile. Hinata only laughed at the sight of it though.

"Oi, you should stop smiling. You're so bad at it." Then Oikawa saw something he'd never thought he'd see in his lifetime, and he saw Karasuno defeat Shiratorizawa. Hinata jumped out of his chair and walked around to Kageyama. He threw his arms around Kageyama and kissed him on the lips.

On the lips. Someone was kissing his kouhai.

Who in the world would want to kiss Kageyama?! Oikawa wanted to fall onto the ground with shock and he barely caught himself from doing so. He knew that this duo was weird from the first time their teams played each other, but this was too much, even for him. Of course, the only person in the world who wanted to kiss Kageyama was the only person in the world who could keep up with Kageyama's setting abilities.

Oikawa felt like the world shifted under him. Was this the reason that Karasuno defeated Shiratorizawa? No, it couldn't be. How could that make any sense? Dating someone didn't make or break a team. Wait, was Kageyama dating Hinata? Oikawa made a face of disgust. It wasn't right that his kouhai was dating someone and his girlfriend had broken up with him, even if Kageyama was dating that shrimp. It was the principle of the matter.

This brought up an entirely different set of questions that Oikawa needed to resolve. Did they get together after the rush of being able to go to nationals? Because Kageyama was his setter? It's not like Iwaizumi felt the urge to kiss him after they won a game. There had to be more to this than meets the eye. He just had to keep stalking Kageyama.

The two finally got up from the table and began running. Racing each other, to be more exact. Oikawa leaned against the tree as he slid down to the ground. He needed to know what Hinata saw in Kageyama. He'd known Kageyama throughout junior high and his kouhai was not a loveable type of person. The answers he needed were just out of sight. Oikawa had to up his stalking.

*

After Oikawa regained his composure, he ran in the direction the two headed off to. Were they going to train some more or were they going to continue their date? Oikawa couldn't believe this was reality. He must had fallen into another world right before his school played Karasuno. He ducked his head and tried to clear that thought out of his mind. If Iwaizumi knew what he was thinking, he'd get punched in the stomach for such ridiculous thoughts. They lost, Karasuno won, and that was that. If he didn't want to repeat such terrible history, then he had to learn from it.

He caught up to Kageyama and Hinata when they were panting at the sidewalk just at the edge of Karasuno. Oikawa slowed his run to a jog and lowered his head before hiding in some nearby bushes. They didn't notice him, too busy lying down on the sidewalk and resting with their eyes closed.

Oikawa watched as Kageyama rolled onto his side and draped his arm across Hinata's body. Hinata snuggled closer and slung his leg over Kageyama's leg. They were in the middle of the sidewalk, broad daylight though it was a weekend so there weren't any students to see them, and it was like the world only narrowed down to just the two of them. The urge to run over to them and separate them rose inside of him and Oikawa had to swallow it back down. This mission was to watch Kageyama, not interfere. Interfering could come later.

Finally, after a few minutes of them resting on the sidewalk, the two sat up and got to their feet. "Kageyama, I want to practice serving. Asahi's whoosh when he does his jump serve and it's whoa when it's a service ace." He waved his arm in the air. "You do that and Asahi does that, so I want to do that, too."

Kageyama snorted as he wrapped his arm around Hinata's shoulders. "You just can't help but want more and more, don't you? Greedy."

"It's not being greedy. We _have_ to win nationals. I have to grow, we both do! We can't be the same team we were when we went up against SeiJoh or even Shiratorizawa. You know? I can't be be a decoy forever. Someday, I want to be an ace."

Kageyama nodded and he kissed the top of Hinata's head. "I know. All right, let's go practice our jump serves. I refuse to let Oikawa have a better jump serve than me." They began walking.

Oikawa scoffed at hearing that. His jump serve, once he was able to use it properly, was amazing. There was no way Kageyama was ever going to get close to it. There wasn't enough time for him to master it in time for nationals. Oikawa narrowed his eyes as he continued to follow the two towards the gym. When Aoba-Johsai faced off against Karasuno and lost, Karasuno had used new combos and attacks against them that they certainly didn't possess in their arsenal before. And now they were trying to add even more. The Karasuno players certainly were living up to their crow nickname. Crows ate anything they could get their claws and beaks on.

Oikawa almost stumbled as he followed them with the huge realization that hit him. Kageyama and Hinata _were_ crows, and they took whatever they saw that could help them and made it their own. Was that how Karasuno defeated the sheer power behind Ushijima of Shiratorizawa? A murder of crows could take down an eagle if there were enough of them, and Oikawa saw just how determined his kouhai could be when he put his mind to it.

That may have solved the answer about why Karasuno was heading to nationals, but it didn't help him solve the mystery of how Kageyama was dating someone and he, the great Oikawa, wasn't. In fact, his girlfriend _broke_ up with him and that alone was something that defied logic. So why did Kageyama have a significant other and not him?

The two of them set up the volleyball net in their gym and Oikawa watched from a window as they practiced their jump serves. Kageyama had a decent one, but it was nothing compared to his own, which made Oikawa gloat to himself. There was no way his kouhai was going to match his jump serve in time for nationals. Hinata, on the other hand, was horrible at jump serving. Half the time, he barely touched the ball, let alone sent it over the net.

Kageyama finally let out a frustrated sigh and Hinata dropped the volleyball to throw his hands into the air like he was ready to defend himself.

"Hinata!"

"What? I'm trying!"

"Let me show you how it's done." Kageyama picked up a volleyball and walked towards Hinata, handing him the ball. Then he held Hinata from behind and whispered what Oikawa presumed to be instructions on how to do a jump serve. Except a few minutes later, Hinata was wiggling in Kageyama's arms and Kageyama's cheeks were red.

Oikawa turned away from the sight to stare off into the distance. The world had turned upside down and he was being punished. This was the only way to explain everything that had happened to him recently. Kageyama was not allowed to have someone to make out with while he was alone and bitter. Life was simply not fair. Oikawa was charming and had a fanclub. Kageyama had neither of those things!

When he dared to peek back through the window again, they were done making out and Hinata was attempting to do a proper jump serve.

"I should have known you were here."

Oikawa nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned around and was face to face with Iwaizumi. He grinned sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Why are you here, Iwa-chan?"

"The usual, stopping you from doing something stupid." Iwaizumi glanced through the window before returning his gaze back to Oikawa. "Why are you stalking Kageyama? They won, we didn't, and they're going to nationals."

" _Exactly_. I had to find out why they won, both against us and Shiratorizawa. I think I figured it out, but never mind that. Kageyama is dating someone." Oikawa hissed that last part, like it was something awful. It really was something awful though.

Iwaizumi raised his eyebrow, but other than that, his bored expression didn't change. "Oh? Who?"

Oikawa gestured towards the window. "His decoy, Hinata. That little shrimp that flies better than anyone else I've ever seen. They're dating. I saw them kiss."

Iwaizumi let out a sigh as he reached to grab Oikawa's arm. "Are you really jealous of them? I expected better of you, Oikawa. Come on, before we get caught."

"But I'm not done here yet." There was a whine in his voice that he hoped Iwaizumi wouldn't notice.

Iwaizumi glared at him and Oikawa knew he caught it. If he pushed it any further, Iwaizumi wasn't going to be happy and Oikawa was going to regret it. He cleared his throat and nodded his head. "All right, I'm done here, Iwa-chan. Let's go."

He let himself one last glance through the window. Kageyama was chasing Hinata around the gym, trying to throw a volleyball at him. It looked like they were fighting. If Oikawa hadn't been stalking his kouhai and found out those two were dating, he wouldn't have seen anything different. He could see the difference now. Kageyama was happy. That little shrimp made him happy and probably, out of everyone in the world, understood him best. Hinata was laughing as Kageyama threw the ball and it missed him, the ball going wide enough that even Oikawa knew Kageyama wasn't trying to hit Hinata with it.

Kageyama had someone who loved him and understood him, both his volleyball obsession and his setting quirks, and could easily keep up with him. That love and happiness was going to get them through nationals. If Karasuno continued to grow like they did for Inter High, their new wings were going to _win_ them nationals.

For a few moments, Oikawa's breath was taken away. He was envious of his kouhai, more than he'd ever been when they were in junior high, because Kageyama was going to fly out of his reach with Hinata by his side. Kageyama won again and he didn't even know that Oikawa was there feeling the loss.

Oikawa straightened himself and looked at Iwaizumi. He was going to find a way to exceed Kageyama when he was in university. And he was going to find a significant other who was a better match to him than Hinata was to Kageyama.

His future was going to be brighter than Kageyama's.

As they walked away from the gym, Oikawa gave Iwaizumi a wide grin. "I think it's time I start dating again. I can't let Kageyama have all the fun."


End file.
